Redrum & Pro Tools

[Synthy08]

Ok so im new to Pro Tools first off (7.4)......so i'm trying to get redrum to flow into pro tools to i can knock out some tracks..... i have all the outputs from the back of reason into the "Hardware device" at the top. I go into Pro tools and start hitting keys then i hear "CLAP"....so i think, o...k...., thats good that i got it set up to get sound out but how am i gonna get a proper work flow if i can only trigger one sound at a time?.....Could up tell me how you get yous to work properly, i basically wanna be able to work like i did back when i was on my MPC (get a good rhythm going then decide what i what drum sound i wanted in "Track 1")........

Also what is the best swing setting on pro tools that best replicates the MPC swig, (I just chose MPC swing 51%, is there a better one?)

[sardi]

Are you trying to use your MPC pads to trigger the ReDrum samples or some sort of controller keyboard? Your 'hitting the keys' remark wasn't too helpful.

More info and I can probably help you. :)

[Synthy08]

using axiom 49

[jbuehler]

The Redrum is mapped to your keyboard from middle C (This can vary depending on the controller IME so check other C keys) and to the left.

Drum 1 is C

Drum 2 is C#

Drum 3 is D

And so forth.

You will need to have a drum sound loaded in each Redrum slot to get sound.

Notice how there are individual stereo outputs per drum on the Redrum. If you use the master outputs, all the drums without individual outputs routed will send audio there. This is sweet because you can have the kick and snare and other important drums on their own track in Pro Tools while having more subliminal hats and things on a single track in Pro Tools which makes mixing easier; I do the hat panning at the Redrum when I do this.

Note: don't use a mixer in Reason, use Pro Tools as the mixer. Route all audio pathes to the hardware device tippy top of Reason. Than setup the Rewire plugs in Pro Tools to route the audio in the way you want it.

[Synthy08]

so so am i just routing the individual channels of the redrum to the top hardward device or individual channels PLUS the main outs? then when i go back in pro tools, how do i set up the reason channel for each track?

[jbuehler]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

so so am i just routing the individual channels of the redrum to the top hardward device or individual channels PLUS the main outs? then when i go back in pro tools, how do i set up the reason channel for each track?

Whichever channels aren't routed individually will come out of the Redrum's main outputs.

For example: if you route slot 4's individual outputs to the top than all the other drum slots will go out of the Redrum's main outputs.

In Pro Tools: make an instrument track, load the Reason plug-in from the instrument portion of the plug-in menu. Next, there is a drop down menu within the Reason plug-in (the one you see in Pro Tools) that has channel choices that reflect the inputs on the device at the tippy top of the Reason rack.

[Synthy08]

I have everything connected like you said, but still only get 1 sound out at a time, am i missing something? the midi in/out section?.....i have Stereo out Left & right connected to the hardware device along with each channel's left (Mono) output.

[Ol' Betsey]

Hi Synthy,

Why don't we just start again from the top? That way we check everything is straight from the get-go. It sounds boring but hopefully it'll show if and where you're having problems with your set-up.

1. Start PT.

2. Open a new session.

3. Set up one Stereo Instrument channel and a Master Fader.

4. Check your PT Midi. Go to PT > Set-up Menu> Midi > Input Devices and make sure your Axiom is checked.

5. Open Reason.

6. Check your Reason Preferences. Under Control Surfaces you should have your Axiom checked. You should also make sure the little box that says 'Use with Reason' is UNCHECKED. (This will make sure you're only playing Reason THROUGH PT. In Advanced Midi you should have No MIDI Input on all channels (A, B, C, D).

5. Make a new empty Session > Add a Mixer, a Redrum, A Subtractor and a Malstrom. Make sure the Redrum Stereo outs go to Mixer Channel 1 (Subtractor 2, Malstrom 3) and then make sure the Mixer Outs are going to 1/2 on the Interface. We'll add all the individual drum channels later. Let's just try this simple way to make it sure works.

6. Now go back to PT and create 3 Midi Channels. Midi INPUTS should say ALL. Click/hold the Midi Channel OUTPUTS you should see Redrum, Subtractor and Malstrom? Assign these accordingly to 1, 2 and 3.

7. Highlight Your Redrum Midi Channel in PT and a start tapping away. Make sure you're playing your keyboard at C1. That's two octaves below middle C3. On my keyboard, I have to shift down the octaves it and the display actually shows -1. This is where the individual hits are. Any higher and you start triggering mutes and solo.

8. You should now hear all your drums.

9. Highlight Channel 2 and now you should only hear your Subtractor. And 3? Yes, Malstrom?

Do we have sound Houston?

Good luck!

R.

[Synthy08]

Is there a way to accomplish this using instrument tracks?

[Ol' Betsey]

Your welcome.

Did you get it working?

R.

[Synthy08]

Originally Posted by Ol' Betsey

Your welcome.

Did you get it working?

R.

Thanks i just got it working!...........

[Synthy08]

OK 2 more noob questions,

Right now when im doing a drum track every once in awhile it sounds like 2 sounds are going, you know how sometimes if you have 2 sound sources going and it clashes, thats what happens to the sound every once in awhile like, if im doing a hi hat it goes "Click, Click, Click, Click, CLACK,Click, Click,"

Also, in the top area when i select the 8 bars to highlight, if i click something on the grid it goes back to the beginning. is there a way to lock it so i can always have it highlighted, i could do that easily in Cubase, but not pro tools.

[myowave]

You dont need to use the stereo out of Redrum if you use individual out to the Audio Interface... That is the reason why you hear doubling of sounds when you trigger...

As far as ProTools, there is a setting in the Preference, not sure of what tab, called Time line exertion (something like that... I will find the exact name later...). Uncheck that box...

Also, I found that making Aux tracks instead of Instrument tracks save on RAM... You can bus to Audio tracks after your ready to record beat...

Originally Posted by Synthy08

OK 2 more noob questions,

Right now when im doing a drum track every once in awhile it sounds like 2 sounds are going, you know how sometimes if you have 2 sound sources going and it clashes, thats what happens to the sound every once in awhile like, if im doing a hi hat it goes "Click, Click, Click, Click, CLACK,Click, Click,"

Also, in the top area when i select the 8 bars to highlight, if i click something on the grid it goes back to the beginning. is there a way to lock it so i can always have it highlighted, i could do that easily in Cubase, but not pro tools.

[Freddy P]

Originally Posted by myowave

You dont need to use the stereo out of Redrum if you use individual out to the Audio Interface... That is the reason why you hear doubling of sounds when you trigger...

As far as ProTools, there is a setting in the Preference, not sure of what tab, called Time line exertion (something like that... I will find the exact name later...). Uncheck that box...

Also, I found that making Aux tracks instead of Instrument tracks save on RAM... You can bus to Audio tracks after your ready to record beat...

I was gonna chime in w/ that bit of advice. I suggest making a PT Template so you won't have to waste time setting it up everytime.

[Ol' Betsey]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

Right now when im doing a drum track every once in awhile it sounds like 2 sounds are going, you know how sometimes if you have 2 sound sources going and it clashes, thats what happens to the sound every once in awhile like, if im doing a hi hat it goes "Click, Click, Click, Click, CLACK,Click, Click,"

Maybe you're doubling the notes when recording?

Make sure the Midi Merge button isn't on in PT's Transport Bar (window) or you can ghost notes. This way you record new notes on each pass and don't get layering of notes.

Also, as far as I recall (I'm not looking at it now but...) once you use the individual outs on Redrum they are automatically disabled from Redrum's stereo out so I don't think that's gonna be the problem as mentioned earlier.

[sardi]

Hey,

Sorry I didn't get back to you in time, but Ol Betsey nailed it for ya.

A couple of things to hopefully suss out your final issues.

Like everyone else has mentioned, use Aux Tracks not Instrument Tracks. Instrument tracks are really only beneficial when your running a VI and only playing one riff. If you plan on doing multiple MIDI parts with the same channel/instrument then your going to be using more than one MIDI channel and so you should be running the VI on an Aux track.

The doubling you might be hearing every now and then could be due to ProTools somewhat sloppy MIDI timing. What version of PT are you running? I just recently ran into this similar issue and discovered that if I upped my buffer (which you wont want to do if your playing live from your Axiom) that the MIDI timing tightened up dramatically. If you're running PT 7.4, download the latest cs update (5 I think) and it should sort it all out for you and allow you to run at lower buffer settings. The MIDI timing is bang on now for me after I did the update. There's a pretty big thread on the DUC relating to this topic.

Finally, what you were referring to in regards to being able to loop an 8 bar section and then select a smaller section to edit, this is called Dynamic Transport. I think it was introduced in PT 7.3 from memory. What you want to do is enable Dynamic Transport from the Options menu, then select your 8 bar loop, and now it will continue to play that loop regardless where you are in the timeline. So now you can use the I tool to edit noted, cut audio etc in realtime whilst the loop continues to play.

Hope that sorts it all out for you. Should work pretty flawlessly if you follow Betsey and mine's steps.

BTW, I encourage you to setup a template like mentioned here by someone else. Im currently in the process of updating some templates to add some of my presets and routing configurations. It's a lifesaver for repetitive tasks. :)

[Synthy08]

i meant... lets say im making a beat, then i click somewhere on the grid then the 8 bars i had highlighted is no longer highlighted, the i have to go back and select the 8 again......i cubase when u highlight the 8 bars it stays locked in so u can click around wherever then hit play and the 8 bars will play in a loop again.

[sardi]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

i meant... lets say im making a beat, then i click somewhere on the grid then the 8 bars i had highlighted is no longer highlighted, the i have to go back and select the 8 again......i cubase when u highlight the 8 bars it stays locked in so u can click around wherever then hit play and the 8 bars will play in a loop again.

Not being funny, but did you even try what I suggested?

Finally, what you were referring to in regards to being able to loop an 8 bar section and then select a smaller section to edit, this is called Dynamic Transport. I think it was introduced in PT 7.3 from memory. What you want to do is enable Dynamic Transport from the Options menu, then select your 8 bar loop, and now it will continue to play that loop regardless where you are in the timeline. So now you can use the I tool to edit noted, cut audio etc in realtime whilst the loop continues to play.

This is exactly the method to achieve what you want to do.

[Synthy08]

Originally Posted by sardi

Not being funny, but did you even try what I suggested?



This is exactly the method to achieve what you want to do.

My bad, i did read over it :-)

[jbuehler]

Ahhhh....

Dynamic Transport....

Best new feature for me in Pro Tools since I started using it 5 years ago.

[Synthy08]

*new question

how do i apply an effect to just a specific part of a track? like lets say i want to have someone say "ohh baby i need you" all electronic and shit, then switch back to normal?

[sardi]

In Pro Tools or Reason?

Either way it's a similar process.

In PT you can either send the channel to an aux with the effect on it and automate the effect send level - or insert said effect directly on the audio channel and automate the bypass button or wet/dry mix if it has one.

In Reason again you would just automate a send or chain an effect after the instrument and use the bypass or wet/dry setting.

BTW, this is the last bit of advice I'm gonna post in this thread until you thank someone at least once. It's just common courtesy.

Your welcome.

[jbuehler]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

*new question

how do i apply an effect to just a specific part of a track? like lets say i want to have someone say "ohh baby i need you" all electronic and shit, then switch back to normal?

Automation in Redrum of Reason.

Create effect and dial it in and than automate it to turn on when you want it on.

[sardi]

Unbelievable....

[Synthy08]

Originally Posted by sardi

Hey,

Sorry I didn't get back to you in time, but Ol Betsey nailed it for ya.

A couple of things to hopefully suss out your final issues.

Like everyone else has mentioned, use Aux Tracks not Instrument Tracks. Instrument tracks are really only beneficial when your running a VI and only playing one riff. If you plan on doing multiple MIDI parts with the same channel/instrument then your going to be using more than one MIDI channel and so you should be running the VI on an Aux track.

The doubling you might be hearing every now and then could be due to ProTools somewhat sloppy MIDI timing. What version of PT are you running? I just recently ran into this similar issue and discovered that if I upped my buffer (which you wont want to do if your playing live from your Axiom) that the MIDI timing tightened up dramatically. If you're running PT 7.4, download the latest cs update (5 I think) and it should sort it all out for you and allow you to run at lower buffer settings. The MIDI timing is bang on now for me after I did the update. There's a pretty big thread on the DUC relating to this topic.

Finally, what you were referring to in regards to being able to loop an 8 bar section and then select a smaller section to edit, this is called Dynamic Transport. I think it was introduced in PT 7.3 from memory. What you want to do is enable Dynamic Transport from the Options menu, then select your 8 bar loop, and now it will continue to play that loop regardless where you are in the timeline. So now you can use the I tool to edit noted, cut audio etc in realtime whilst the loop continues to play.

Hope that sorts it all out for you. Should work pretty flawlessly if you follow Betsey and mine's steps.

BTW, I encourage you to setup a template like mentioned here by someone else. Im currently in the process of updating some templates to add some of my presets and routing configurations. It's a lifesaver for repetitive tasks. :)

Could someone explain the Aux instead of instrument tracks a bit more. im not quite sucre how to set it up.

[PettyCash]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

Also what is the best swing setting on pro tools that best replicates the MPC swig, (I just chose MPC swing 51%, is there a better one?)

If you are working with the newest version of Reason, the best MPC swing in your case would be any of those provided by the regroove mixer in Reason.

All you would do is lay down your drum patterns within Reason's sequencer instead of PT's, and use the stock MPC 60 grooves in regroove. During that whole time you could already have all your Reason audio being routed into pro tools ready for tweaking, and even throw some RTAS instruments into the game and get things done.

[Synthy08]

Originally Posted by Synthy08

Could someone explain the Aux instead of instrument tracks a bit more. im not quite sucre how to set it up.

Serously!!!!, my ram is getting ate up!!.

[MYAMS]

Im dont get why people would want to deal with Rewire... why not get a cheap or even freeware sampler that you can load directing in PT

[Stitch333]

Origi